


Porcelain

by glittergrenade



Category: Thunderbolts (Comics)
Genre: Bromance, Chen and Robbie bromance, Gen, I mean major trigger warning on that point cuz penance ok, Initiative Era T-Bolts, Self-Harm, and like robbie is a baby for reals tho, because Penance, mama!Chen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 13:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4921762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glittergrenade/pseuds/glittergrenade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chen feels bad for Robbie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Porcelain

**Author's Note:**

> I was just rereading some Thunderbolts for like the millionth time, when I noticed how adorable these two are together. So I had to write a fic. At first it was gonna be shippy, but then I realized how much cuter motherhen!Chen would be, so it's like that. Chen is mama and Robbie is baby. Just sayin.

Bullseye was loose. Again. How on earth did this even keep happening? Wasn't he supposed to have nanites in his blood? Clearly, his handlers were incompetent. But Chen didn't blame them. He felt bad for them. They should've been given better training before they were handed such an assignment… if there was even such a thing as being prepared for Bullseye.

It seemed there wasn't much more for Chen to do for those handlers right now, other than feel bad for them. They were likely dead, anyhow — and right now, the rest of the Thunderbolts were supposed to remain where they were and await further orders from Osborn. Chen paced in the hall, crossing his arms impatiently. He was disappointed in how everything was going, there was no two ways about that. If Songbird was in charge, this would've been covered five minutes ago. Then again, if Songbird was in charge, psychopath Bullseye wouldn't be a Thunderbolt, and they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

Presently, something at the corner of his vision caught his eye. A small object glinted at him from the floor. A knife. Blood. And was that the edge of a body, so perfectly stuck there as if it had been thrown there by a master dartsman?

_Bullseye._

Chen increased his steps, hurrying to he end of the hall. He knew he wasn't supposed to be doing this. Osborn hadn't ordered him yet to get involved. Frankly, he didn't much care. He wasn't the one with nanites in his system. The Chinese government had seen to that.

There were bodies. Three of them. But only two knives. Chen looked up abruptly, realizing what part of the mountain he was in. He was standing right next to Penance's quarters. And there was the door, left half open.

Chen peered into the room. It was almost entirely empty. There was just one lone stand, on which there was the Penance suit. Red and metal… that suit sent shivers down Chen's spine. It must feel horrible inside that suit. Almost as horrible as the mind of the boy who it belonged to.

Peering in, Chen saw that very boy. Robbie was sitting immediately next to the door, his back against he wall, his knees drawn up to his chest. He was wearing nothing but a pair of men's boxers, and his body wasn't a pretty sight. Covered in fresh red marks and blotches, overtop slightly older cuts and more cuts. He couldn't see any clear skin on a glance. Then his eyes went to Robbie's hands. The kid was clasping the missing blade, and he seemed to be muttering something under his breath.

At that moment: "Radioactive Man, do you copy?"

It was Osborn, speaking into his ear piece. Ugh. "Director?" Chen put a finger to his ear, as if it would help him hear better.

Robbie inhaled deeply, and stabbed himself in the stomach so swiftly Chen couldn't even start. "I'm no better than him," Robbie muttered. "I'm no better than him." He stabbed himself again, a frustrated expression coming across his face. "I'm no better than him." Chen watched him motionlessly, starting to feel sick.

"I need you to come help contain Bullseye. We can't reach the remote to shut him down because he… damaged property of mine. We need you to help clear the way."

"Roger that," Chen said, but he barely registered Osborn's command.

Robbie was still stabbing himself repeatedly. He didn't seem aware of anything around him. Blood spilled between his fingers, but he only seemed to push harder. It was a tiny blade, as was Bullseye's favorite kind; but this had to be harmful. …Which was probably the idea. "I'm no better than him. I'm no better than him."

Chen creased his brow. His heart ached to witness this, but he really didn't know what he could do. He didn't know how to fix the boy… he didn't know if he could be fixed. Besides, Robbie was dangerous; he might just as easily turn on him. Powerful and broken were a bad mix, and it wasn't something he could deal with right now.

"Is Penance with you?" Osborn inquired. "He's not answering his communicator, but you should bring him for backup. Bullseye may be accurate, but Penance can deflect projectiles before they reach their target."

"Penance?" Chen said in his gentlest voice, crouching down in front of him, but the Robbie still didn't seem to see him. He was still repeating that _I'm-no-better-than-him_ mantra. "Osborn, he's really not in fighting condition," Chen said.

"Please tell me _he's_ not destroying my property too." Osborn sounded exhausted.

"Only himself," Chen replied.

"Phew," Osborn sounded relieved. "It would be the last straw if Penance went rogue today. Just leave him to his perversion. Take Swordsman instead. And get your ass down there and stop that maniac!"

"Copy," Chen turned away. He hated to leave Robbie here, like this, but it was true he really didn't have a choice. Bullseye was the danger of the hour. Robbie was just a broken child, who needed a hospital more than a position on this locate-and-capture team of questionable morals. And until Robbie decided he wanted to improve — a choice that was clearly impossible for the kid to make on his own — there was nothing Chen could do to change that. But just as he took a step out the door, he heard a rough, hollow gasp.

"I'm. No. Better. Than. _Him_!"

Chen whirled on his heel and peered back through. Robbie was in the same position, but he looked suddenly very angry, stabbing himself quicker, again and again and again, harder with each blow… Chen's eyes followed the crimson blood spilling onto the floor. He stood there for a moment, staring as Robbie drained himself away. Could he really just leave him like this?

_No._

Chen crouched again, grabbing for the knife in Robbie's hands. "Stop it, stop it," he said loudly, only to pull back his finger as it got nicked. Robbie struggled unenthusiastically, and blue sparks sizzled across his body. _Gentle_ , Chen warned himself. He couldn't risk freaking Robbie out any more than he already was, or it would undoubtedly get ferociously violent. Chen's powers could be effective, but he'd rather not give cancer to a teammate. "Penance, your vital organs are in there. You're going to _kill_ yourself. You need to stop."

The knife slipped out of Robbie's fingers, and Chen caught it. Robbie stared intently at the shiny object, then began digging his fingers into the fresh holes on his abs. Would he at least be physically okay now? Robbie's cuts scabbed over quickly, when he gave them a break. It was handy for what he did to himself. But he wasn't giving them a break. "I'm no better than him…" he whispered.

"Who are you no better than?" Chen asked softly. Was this related to Stamford, the reason Penance was what he was? "Nitro?"

"Dr. Chen?" Osborn sounded impatient. "Are you talking to Penance? You do realize that we have psychologists on base, right? You also realize that your doctorate in nuclear radiation has nothing even remotely to do with mental health?"

"I'll be right there," Chen said evenly. "Send Songbird in my place."

"You'll be right there but you need a replacement?" Osborn began to splutter, but Chen turned off his communicator.

"Better," he muttered, then looked at Robbie again. "Penance?"

"Bullseye. I'm no better than Bullseye," Robbie mumbled, and he looked so dejected, so miserable, so full of self-loathing… well, Chen Lu wasn't a hugging type, but there was only one thing to do in this situation. Slowly, so as not to startle the boy, he sat down on his knees and wrapped his arms gently around Robbie. The boy choked slightly, but didn't resist, leaning in as Chen's strong green arms held him. He was just a child. Just a child who had seen too much.

"Robbie." Chen called him by his real name. It was always hard to get close to Penance, and he wasn't typically on a first name basis, but he could tell that Robbie needed it. "You are better than him. Bullseye is a pathological killer. He enjoys it. Whatever you think you have done, whatever you feel responsible for, you're trying to make up for it. That alone makes you better."

There was a silence. It felt strangely normal, holding Penance in his arms. He felt smaller than he looked. But presently, Robbie looked up, pulling himself away. "So what was Osborn calling about?"

Straight to the point. It was amazing how Robbie could go from traumatized-breakdown to surface-functional so quickly. Chen leaned back, making his distance again. Privately though, he was glad Robbie was no longer scratching at his cuts. "He wants us to contain Bullseye, so that he can reach the remote for the nanites."

"Okay." Robbie stood up, and so did Chen. Robbie tilted his head slightly, a smile suddenly glowing across his face. It was eery. "That's something to wear my suit for, huh?"

Chen nodded heavily. "I suppose you can." The suit. He wished it didn't get to him so much. He knew that Robbie was destroyed inside, in a way that could never be made whole. He knew that Robbie was a lost cause, a shadow of a shadow of a functional human being. But he also knew that Robbie _was_ still a human being, and he didn't deserve any of what fate had handed him.

Robbie's creepy smile widened as he ran his hands over the breastplate, and took it down from the stand. "Good." He strapped it on, the spikes allegedly digging into his skin. Blood ran down his legs as he tightened it, the anguish clear in his face; but it was an odd expression. Agony and relish. "This always takes a while," he spoke presently through gritted teeth; seeing as how Chen hadn't moved. "You can get a start. I'll catch up."

Chen nodded, relieved that Robbie hadn't asked for help. He wasn't sure he would be capable of helping a teenager lock himself into an iron maiden suit. He turned to the door, trying to pretend he couldn't hear the sound of ripping flesh. But at that moment, "Dr. Chen?" Robbie said, and Chen looked over his shoulder. Robbie was leaning against the opposite wall with a focused but agonized expression on his face, strapping spikes into his arm.

"Yes, Penance?" Chen said, his voice very gentle again.

"You're right," Robbie said, meeting his green eyes with his baby blues. "I'm not like Bullseye. I'm _not_ better than him till my sins are repaid, and that'll be never. But he's remorseless; I'm at least trying. That's why… I'm going shopping. My room is bare and I need a notebook."

"A notebook?" Chen echoed. He was confused more than anything. This sounded like good news, it had to be — but why a notebook?

"Definitely," Robbie nodded very seriously and matter-of-factly, then as if in afterthought, "and maybe a bed. And possibly action figures. Just a few." He went back to tightening spikes into his skin, more blood running down his arm. "I just thought I should let you know."

"Thank you for telling me." Chen nodded, and turned again to the door. It _was_ good news. Miraculously good news. As he walked out into the hall, for real this time; as he turned on his communicator to face Osborn's temper tantrum, he rethought his opinion on Penance. The boy was far from whole, of course, but shopping? Deciding to maybe allow himself the comfort of a bed? And… toys?

Robbie Baldwin was still a broken doll, but at least one chip had been found itself back on his porcelain.

**Author's Note:**

> And off he goes, to get his body piercings. Honestly, I really wish there was an issue where it just showed him getting his piercings. Is there one? Like a oneshot or something that I'm unaware of? Because that would be cool. Okay, now I'm off to draw some fan art of Robbie getting his piercings. I'll put it on tumblr when I'm done yeah yeah yeah


End file.
